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Agence France-Presse

It is America’s biggest city, home to world-famous sights from the Empire State Building to Broadway. For many it is synonymous with the American Dream.
But that is only one face of New York.
The other is the estimated 75,000 people, according to US Department of Housing and Urban Development figures, who are homeless in the Big Apple.
The Coalition for the Homeless, a non-profit organisation, says that in recent years homelessness in the city has hit its highest levels since the 1930s Great Depression.
New York City Hall counts its numbers slightly differently, but either way, the homelessness issue is a growing embarrassment for Mayor Bill de Blasio, who stands accused by some of underestimating the scale of the problem.

Gilbert Taylor, commissioner of the Department of Homeless Services, became the latest high-ranking official to pay the price for failing to get a grip on what many New Yorkers say is a growing legion of homeless people in the city. Another official resigned in September.
“It is a problem that now goes back in this city, 30 and 40 years,” de Blasio said, defending his record on the homeless and warning that “this will be a long fight, this is a challenge that will not be solved easily.”
He added: “More and more of our homeless are homeless for economic reasons, not because of substance abuse or mental health problems.”

De Blasio, who called for a thorough review, highlighted the efforts of his administration to get people off the streets and into their own homes - a severe challenge in a city where wages have failed to keep pace with some of the highest rental prices in the world.
New York is legally required to provide housing for those without it.
City hall initiatives include a long-term plan to build apartments for the homeless - New York is legally required to provide housing for those without it - while in the near term there are additional shelter beds, longer hours for drop-in centres and expanded outreach programmes, among a raft of measures.
De Blasio pointed out that homelessness is by no means unique to New York and said that other cities across the United States, notably San Francisco and Los Angeles, have higher proportions of homeless.
But de Blasio’s critics point out that while across the United States the number of homeless is falling - from 647,258 in 2007 to 564,708 this year, according to a recent study by Department of Housing and Urban Development - New York appears to be going in the opposite direction.

Advocates say that New York’s homeless problem is something of a hidden scourge.
An estimated 3,000-4,000 people sleep rough in parks, train or subway stations, or on sidewalks, according to official figures. But there are tens of thousands of others - among them children of homeless families - in temporary residences and shelters, city officials say.
New York Police Department Commissioner Bill Bratton last month said the situation “has exploded over the last two years” and suggested that de Blasio, in office since January 2014, had initially underestimated the scale of the problem.
“There's a lot of folks who are in shelter by day, who you never see because they go to work. There's a lot of folks who are in shelter by day, who you never see because they're kids who go to school,” said de Blasio.

“But there are folks who are in shelter, and the typical practice has been to ask them to leave during the day and come back at night, and if they don't have a productive place to go, it's not surprising they're on the street - and for a lot of people, that raises a concern.”
Another concern are the conditions that homeless families find themselves in.
Last week, New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer detailed the plight of families in shelters, in a highly critical official report.
“Over 23,000 homeless children in our city slept in nightmare conditions last night, many of them surrounded by peeling paint, some feeling the chill from broken windows, and others sharing space with vermin,” he said, hitting out at New York’s Department of Homeless Services (DHS).
Stringer, an independent elected official who oversees the functioning of municipal services, said that just 14 staff oversee 12,500 homeless families in shelters.


New York frets over homeless ‘explosion’ that activists say has hit its highest levels since the 1930s Great Depression

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 21: A homeless man's sign rests on the street on December 21, 2015 in New York City. On Monday the homeless advocacy group Picture the Homeless joined supporters and homeless individuals at a news conference to announce a plan for legal action against New York City's treatment of the homeless. Homelessness in New York City is at an all time high despite the liberal administration of Bill de Blasio. Picture the Homeless accused the city and police of targeting the homeless by forcing them to move from public spaces and for confiscating their property. Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 21: A man looks for food in a garbage can on December 21, 2015 in New York City. On Monday the homeless advocacy group Picture the Homeless joined supporters and homeless individuals at a news conference to announce a plan for legal action against New York City's treatment of the homeless. Homelessness in New York City is at an all time high despite the liberal administration of Bill de Blasio. Picture the Homeless accused the city and police of targeting the homeless by forcing them to move from public spaces and for confiscating their property. Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 21: A woman begs for change near Herald Square on December 21, 2015 in New York City. In the past five years New York's homeless population has ballooned from approximately 38,000 in October of 2010 to over 59,500 in October of 2015, according to Coalition for the Homeless. Andrew Burton/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

FILE - In this April 15, 2015 file photo, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio delivers the keynote address for the University of Nebraska, in Omaha, Neb. A memo obtained by The Associated Press shows the mayor has taken steps to have his lawyers review public records requests that could reflect directly on the mayor. The broad mandate of all city agencies for potentially controversial records could give de Blasio control over virtually all newsworthy Freedom of Information Law requests. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 21: A man begs for change in Penn Station on December 21, 2015 in New York City. In the past five years New York's homeless population has ballooned from approximately 38,000 in October of 2010 to over 59,500 in October of 2015, according to Coalition for the Homeless. Andrew Burton/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

A man sleeps on a seat at the Borough Hall subway station in the Brooklyn borough of New York in this February 10, 2015, file photo. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio launched a new program on December 17, 2015, to combat his city's rising street homeless population, following criticism of his handling of the issue and days after the abrupt departure of his top homeless advisor. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/Files

A homeless man's sign. In the past five years New York's homeless population has ballooned from approximately 38,000 in October of 2010 to over 59,500 in October of 2015, according to Coalition for the Homeless. Photo: AFP

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